Lesson 2

LINGUISTIC INTRODUCTION
 I Consonants

Content II Vowels

III Stress
I. CONSONANTS
 1. Definition of Consonants
 Consonants are the sounds in the production of which one articulator
moves towards another or two articulators come together,
obstructing the air-stream and the air-stream can’t get out freely.
 2. Classification of Consonants
 24 English consonants are classified according to 3 criteria:
 Place of articulation
 Manner of articulation
 Voicing
 2. Classification of Consonants
 24 English consonants are classified according to 3 criteria:
 Place of articulation
 Manner of articulation
 Voicing
 2.1. Place of articulation
 The place of articulation is the location of the obstruction of the air-stream in the
articulation of consonants. It describes the point at which the articulators actually
touch or are at their closest.
 According to place of articulation, there are 9 groups of consonants

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 2.1. Place of articulation
1. Bilabials: are the sounds made with the two lips pressed together or coming
together: /b, p, m, w/

Eg. brother – paper – mother - waster

2. Labio-dentals: are the sounds which are produced with the lower lip touching
the upper front teeth: /v, f/

Eg. violet – flight

3. Dentals: are the sounds which are produced with the tip or blade of the tongue
touching the upper front teeth: /ɵ, ð/

Eg. thanks - then

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 2.1. Place of articulation
4. Alveolars: are the sounds which are produced with the tip or blade of the tongue
touching or approaching the alveolar ridge: /d, t, z, s, l, n/
Eg. Dad - teacher – zebra – say – like - new
5. Retroflex: is the sound which is produced with the tip of the tongue curling back
towards the back of the alveolar ridge: /r/
Eg. ring
6. Palato - alveolars: are the sounds which are produced with the tongue tip or blade
coming close to the area between the back of the alveolar ridge and the front of the
hard palate: /ʒ, ʃ, dʒ, tʃ,/
Eg. Vision – shoes – job – chair

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 2.1. Place of articulation
7. Palatal: is the sound which is produced with the front of the tongue coming
close to the hard palate: /j/
Eg. year - yet
8. Velars: are the sounds which are produced with the back of the tongue touching
the soft palate: /g, k, ŋ/
Eg. go – key – sing
9. Glottals: are the sounds which are produced without the active use of the tongue
and other parts of the mouth: /h/
Eg. hat

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 2.1. Place of articulation
Places Articulators Examples
Bilabial Upper lip + lower lip
Labio-dental Lower lip + upper teeth

Dental Teeth + tongue

Alveolar Alveolar ridge + tongue
Retroflex Back of alveolar ridge + tongue
Palato - Join of hard palate & alveolar ridge +
alveolar tongue
Palatal Hard palate + tongue
Velar Soft palate + tongue
Glottal Vocal cords
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 2.2. Manner of Articulation
 Manner of articulation is the way in which the air-stream is obstructed or altered in
the production of speech sounds.
 It describes the types of obstruction caused by the narrowing or closure of the
articulators.
 According to manner of articulation, there are 6 groups of consonants.

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 2.2. Manner of Articulation
1. Plosive (oral stop): are the sounds which are produced with the air-stream being
stopped in the oral cavity and the soft palate is raised blocking off the nasal cavity. Then
the two articulators come apart quickly and the air escapes through the oral tract:

/b, p, d, t, g, k/

2. Nasals: they are produced with the air-stream being stopped in the oral cavity but the
soft palate is down so that the air can go out through the nose:

/m, n, ŋ/

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 2.2. Manner of Articulation
3. Fricatives: are the sounds in the production of which two articulators come close
together but there is still a small opening between them so the air-stream is partially
obstructed and an audible friction noise (a hissing sound) is produced.
/v, f, z, s, ɵ, ð, ʃ, ʒ, h/
4. Lateral: is the sound which is made when the air-stream is obstructed at a point along
the centre of the oral tract, with incomplete closure between one or both sides of the
tongue and the roof of the mouth.
/l/

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 2.2. Manner of Articulation

5. Approximants: are the sounds in the production of which two articulators come
close together but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a
friction noise is produced.

/w, j, r/

6. Affricate: are the sounds which are produced when a stop is immediately followed
by a fricative.

/dʒ, tʃ /
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2.2. Manner of Articulation
 2.3 According to voicing.
1. Voiced consonants: are produced when the vocal cords are vibrating.
e.g. /g/, /d/, /v/, /l/, /m/....
2. Voiceless consonants: are produced when the vocal cords are not vibrating.
e.g./t/, /k/, /f/......

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 3. Describing English consonants

◦ The description includes the following information:

a. Voicing
b. Place of articulation
c. Manner of articulation
e.g. /s/: voiceless alveolar fricative
/n/: voiced alveolar nasal
/f/: voiceless labio-dental fricative

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II. VOWELS
 1. Definition of Vowels
 Vowels are sounds in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes
from the larynx to the lips.
 2. Classification of Vowels
 20 vowels are divided into 2 groups:

 Monothongs (12 vowels)

 Diphthongs (8 vowels)
 2.1. Monothongs
 Monothongs are simple or pure vowel sound in which the speech organs
remain in the same position throughout the duration of the vowel’s articulation.

 12 monothongs are classified in terms of:

1. The front/back position of the tongue
2. The height of the bulk of the tongue
3. The degree of the lip-rounding
4. The length of the sound
 CLASSIFICATION

1. The position of the tongue 2. The height of the tongue

 CLASSIFICATION

3. The degree of lip rounding 4. The length of sound

 DESCRIPTION
 You need at least 2 out of 3 criteria to describe a monophthong:

 The length of sound

 The height of tongue

 The position of tongue

Eg. /u:/ - long high back vowel

/ʌ / - (short) low central vowel

/e/ - short middle central vowel

 2.2 Diphthongs
 Diphthongs are sounds that
consist of a movement or glide
from one vowel to another. The
first part of a diphthong is always
longer and stronger than the
second part. The length of a
diphthong is equivalent to that of a
long monophthong.

 Example: /ai/, /ei/

 2.2 Diphthongs
 Centring diphthongs :

Diphthongs that glide from front/ back position to more central position.

 Closing diphthongs:

Diphthongs that glide from a more open to a closer position.

 Description: In order to describe a diphthong, we describe the glide from

one sound to the other sound.
Eg. /ei/ - mid front to high front closing
/eə/ - mid front to mid central centring
 DESCRIPTION PRACTICE
Describe the following vowel sounds
Eg. /ei/ - mid front to high front closing /u:/ - long high back vowel
/eə/ - mid front to mid central centring /ʌ / - (short) low central vowel

◦ /a:/:
/ʊə/:
◦ /æ/:
/aʊ/:
◦ /ɪ/:
/əʊ/:
◦ /ɔː/:
/ɔɪ/:
◦ /ʊ/:
/ai/:
◦ /i:/:
/ɪə/:
◦ /ə/:
III. STRESS
 1. Definition
◦ Stress is an extra force exerted on a particular syllable or a particular word in
spoken language. The stressed syllable or word is said with greater energy,
and stands out in a word, phrase or sentence.
◦ Examples:

John bought a new car yesterday

 2. Types of stress
1. Word stress: is an extra force put on a particular syllable of the word. It is usually
fixed. For example:
invite  /ɪnˈvaɪt/ entertain  /en.t̬ ɚˈteɪn/

2. Sentence stress: is an extra force put on a particular word in a sentence. Sentence

stress is not fixed. It depends on the speaker’s feelings and attitudes and the
message that he wants to get across to the listener. For example:
I’ll go to the cinema next Friday. I’ll GO to the CInema next FRIday.

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 3. Levels of word stress
1. Primary stress: is the strongest type of stress. It is marked by a small
vertical line high up just before the syllable it relates to.
2. Secondary stress : it is weaker than primary stress, but stronger than
unstressed syllables. It is usually found in words of four or five syllables. It
is represented in transcription with a low mark. For examples:
3. Unstressed: can be regarded as being the absence of any recognizable
amount of prominence.
Example:
photographic /ˌfəʊ.təˈɡræf.ɪk/
economical /ˌiː.kəˈnɒm.ɪ.kəl/
nationality  /ˌnæʃ.ənˈæl.ə.ti/
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Practice
 Identify the primary stress of the following words

correct Architect
major   Advantage
polite disaster
complete important  
heavy Vietnamese
provide organization
sincere accurate
similar
determine
 4. Sentence Stress
 Sentence stress falls on the stressed syllables of content words:
1. nouns ; verbs ; adjectives; adverbs
2. negative words (not, never, neither, etc.)
3. modals (should, could, might, etc., but not will or can)
4. yes, no, and auxiliary verbs in short answers (e.g., Yes, she does.)
5. Quantifiers: some, many, no, all, one, two, three, etc.)
6. Wh-Question words: what, where, when, why, how, etc

Eg/ The kids are at the park.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Why aren’t you doing your homework?
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 4. Sentence Stress
 Unlike word stress, which tends to be fixed, sentence stress can vary quite frequently
depending on the intention of the speaker.
 Compare the emphasis given with their intention in brackets:
1. Who go to the cinema next Friday - I’LL go to the cinema next Friday. (me, not John)
2. Where will you go next Friday? - I’ll go to the CInema next Friday. (not to the theatre)
3. Will you go to the cinema this Friday? – No,I’ll go to the cinema NEXT Friday. (not this
Friday)
4. Will you go to the cinema next Thursday? - ’ll go to the cinema next FRIday. (not next
Thursday)

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 Practice
 Identify the sentence stress in the following sentences
1. What are you doing tonight?
2. The boys are playing computer games.
3. She doesn’t like that cake.
4. Do you prefer tea or coffee?
5. I don’t know the answer, either.
6. I can speak French.
7. I can’t speak Japanese.
8. Yes, I can. / No, I can’t.
9. I’ve never heard of that before, but it makes sense.
 Practice
A- Identify the sentence stress in the following sentences
1. What are you doing tonight?
2. The boys are playing computer games.
3. She doesn’t like that cake.
4. Do you prefer tea or coffee?
5. I don’t know the answer, either.
6. I can speak French.
7. I can’t speak Japanese.
8. Yes, I can. / No, I can’t.
9. I’ve never heard of that before, but it makes sense.
 Practice
B- Identify the sentence stress in the following sentences